Gouden Carolus Pure Taste Anker Cask

The Gouden Carolus Pure Taste is a range of young single malts only available at the distillery De Molenberg in Belgium. There are 3 different releases in bottles of 200ml, all three matured matured on a different type of cask: bourbon, the Anker cask and Oloroso. The second one we try is the one matured on Het Anker cask, which is a cask of American Oak, built to the specifications of the distillery by brewery Het Anker’s coopers. Not sure what the difference is with the bourbon cask, but let’s find out by tasting. The nose is sweet on apples, honey, apricots and a hint of red fruit on the one hand, but also has quite a bit of wood on the other. Having said that, no offnotes here, so no worries. On the contrary, the aromas are well integrated and make for a very pleasant nose. The body is lightly oily and mouth coating. It is soft and immediately quite sweet. If tasted blind, I would have guessed a sherry cask. Apricots, almonds, honey, liquorice wood and a hint of pastry. Spicy on nutmeg and black pepper. I quite like this, in fact. The finish is medium long on more of the same. Well, that was a pleasant surprise. The accompanying card reads ‘soft & mouth coating’. I absolutely agree. This one is worth tying.